1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to dispensing consumable material and, more particularly, to dispensing consumable material such as cosmetics (for example, lipstick), medicinal products, health and beauty products, personal hygiene products, or other consumable substances. More particularly, various examples of the present invention provide a system for reducing the amount of unused residual material retained in a dispensing device wherein the consumable material is extended from a housing of the dispensing device during use and retractable back within the housing between uses. In one example, a telescoping twist-type tube dispenser for dispensing lipstick is provided wherein the residual amount of lipstick retained is decreased, thereby reducing waste.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of dispensing devices for consumable material such as cosmetics, medicinal products, or other consumable substances are known. By way of example, Kendall, U.S. Pat. No. 2,263,632 discloses a lipstick holder comprising a telescopically constructed casing to enclose the lipstick material, whereby as the lipstick material is worn away in use the sections of the casing collapse one within the other to expose the tip of the lipstick. Considered in more detail, as the lipstick material is consumed, the pressure of a flange against the lips of a user causes an outer section to push into a mid-section and further expose the tip of the lipstick as the lipstick is worn away. The sections continue to collapse one into the next until the amount of lipstick material that is accessible has been used. Nevertheless, as shown in FIG. 3 of the Kendall patent, an amount of residual lipstick material is retained in a cylindrical section 13 when the sections 14 and 15 are fully collapsed. On the other hand, advantageously, a new lipstick may be substituted for the used one by simply removing a holder 25 shown in FIG. 3 of the Kendall patent and replacing it with a new stick of lipstick material at the same time re-extending the sections 14 and 15 to contain the new stick.
Furthermore, an example of a twist-type tube dispenser for lipstick is shown in Anderson, U.S. Pat. No. 2,395,710 which discloses a dispensing container of the applicatory type adapted to serve as a hollow handle for holding, projecting, and retracting a contained body of dispensable substance, such as a stick-like body of cosmetic, medicinal, hygienic, or marking material, for example, lipstick. The Anderson patent places in screw-threaded operative relationship certain telescoping parts that comprise a core internal and exclusive of an outer casing, and which are located between the bottom end of the outer casing and the nearest, or bottom, end of the carrier for the lipstick when the lipstick is in a projected position ready for use. This makes it unnecessary to provide the outer casing with any screw thread or groove whatever, if preferred, so that the wall of the casing shell may be made even thinner than before and the lipstick carrier need not rotate with respect to the casing shell in order to be projected and retracted. In one embodiment, the mechanical actuating parts comprise a working mechanism composed of overlapped sleeve-like telescoping members which have screw camming engagement with each other, for example, in the form of a helical guideway and follower lug. The assembly comprises telescoping members in which the extent of axial separation of the members is limited by one or more blind-ended grooves slidably engaged by some form of follower projection, or lug, carried, on an associated telescopic part so that sliding of the lug along the groove causes screw-like relative movement between the telescoping members. As shown in FIG. 1 of the Anderson patent, the bottom of lipstick 30 is seated on an annular shoulder 31 and fits within and is steadied by a surrounding rim 29 of a carrier plunger 25. Conventionally, as much as approximately one-third of the consumable material such as lipstick is retained in the structure in which the lipstick is mounted and is therefore wasted.
There are thus shortcomings to the above and other known dispensing devices for lipstick and similar consumable materials due to the residual material that is wasted. There have been attempts to reduce the amount of residue, but the structures of the resulting dispensing devices have been structurally complicated and thus costly to manufacture. For example, the dispensing device disclosed in Olson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,338,474 provides a collapsible container constructed for dispensing substantially all of the material contained therein. As shown in FIG. 6 of the Olson patent, within a dispensing container 52, and at the dispensing end 54, there is located a solid material such as lipstick which is to be dispensed. A sealing and supporting member 56 is attached by means of a number of prongs 57 to the solid material 55. A corrugated sleeve 67 is cemented or otherwise fastened to one end of the member 56 to provide a positive grip, in moving the sealing member 56 toward the dispensing end 54 or in moving the end piece 59 towards the sleeve 67. The collapsing wall 53 is constructed of resilient material such as spring steel to provide a resilient and yet firm collapsing wall for the dispensing container 52. Another structure intended to dispense substantially all of a consumable material such as lipstick is disclosed in Japanese Published Patent Application No. JP 08196343 A in which a cylindrical container for make-up such as lipstick has a pushing rod 27 of a pushing part 25 below a support board 26 for the lipstick. When the pushing rod 27 is operated, the lipstick is further extended from the cylindrical container.
In view of the shortcomings of known dispensing devices, one preferred example in accordance with the present invention provides a system for reducing the amount of unused residual material retained in a dispensing device wherein the consumable material is extended from a housing of the dispensing device during use and retractable back within the housing between uses, which has an uncomplicated construction. The invention thus solves the long-extant problem of delivering a consumable product in a dispensing device such as a telescoping twist-type tube dispenser, for example, a lipstick container, so that substantially all of the product is consumed. Furthermore, various examples of the present invention provide an improved device of the character described that presents a pleasing appearance and which may be manufactured at low cost.